Korean business men get drunk! Here a a few tidbit pieces about my experiences with drunk Koreans this past week.
Story #1
Finally, my knee is feeling a ton better! Monday night was the last night of the Chu Seok holiday and I was beyond the definition of bored. I had read three books in four days and my body was begging for activity. It all began with me juggling the ball in my apartment. See, at this point I had made up my mind that I would wait one more week before I attempted to go play a real game of soccer. Playing with my ball in the small apartment wasn't doing it for me so I decided what the hell, "I'll just go down to the field and juggle the ball there and not actually kick it around. " Well just as playing with the ball in my room led me to playing on the field, playing on the field led me to kicking the ball at the goal. My confidence was growing with every shot. Eventually, an older man, Dae Jwon, asked if I would like to play with him and his friends versus some high schoolers. These were your typical Korean high schoolers, dressed to the height of fashion to play soccer and took to themselves as real high and mighty. Game on I say. In the back of my mind I knew I had to restrain myself from playing all out, had to protect my knee and all.
Competition gets the best of all of us. Those damn high schoolers score two goals immediately and I just wasn't going to allow myself to beaten, not on my first night back playing dammit. I started to step up my game and actually sprint. Perhaps, it was the fact that I wasn't playing all out at first but when I turn "it" on the high schoolers didn't know immediately how to adjust, so the slide tackled me in the box from behind very cheap-like. Penalty Kick time! That was my first goal of three that night. We eventually won 5 to 4 and sent those emo-styled high schoolers packing with our "Kashamnidas" (thank yous) but even that wasn't what left an impression on me. High above the field on one of the many benches surrounding the field was a very drunk man that I can only assume was a war veteran. The ENTIRE time we were there that night, 8pm to 10pm, this man was yelling Korean constantly. Luckily, I don't know Korean because I can only imagine him commenting on the "Ginger American can't play Soccer/Why don't you get some sleeves for that shirt/Who hid my Soju?" A testament to the kindness of Koreans was displayed when after polishing off a bottle of Soju HE WOULD THROW IT DOWN TOWARDS US! It would shatter and go everywhere and then he'd yell at his loudest as everyone stopped and stared for a moment, allowing him a stage to perform. His act was immediately recognized as melodramatic and induced by the Soju and the remnants that laid around the track in his vicinity. This play of his had 4 acts total that night, and 4 shattered bottles of Soju to testify it.
Story #2
This previous Friday night a bunch of us English teachers decided to go out and get some food together and top it all off with drinks. The meal was amazing. I must say that of all the food I've had on different continents nothing compares to what the Koreans offer. If you like meat and
spicy food a la Chipotle well Korean food is for you, plus its dirt cheap. After our meal and drinks we had to decide what to do next. Luckily, some of our Korean teachers met up with us, Lucia and Clair (those are their English names, their real one's are much hard to say much less spell). The general consensus was for a Nora Bong aka Karaoke. But, this isn't your normal singing bar that one might imagine. In Korea you pay when you enter and then you get a private room to yourselves with a big screen and loud surround sound plus two microphones. Oddly enough its "technically" illegal to drink in singing rooms but that wouldn't stop this clever ginger. I grab one of my mate's bag and headed to the nearest convenience store to stock up on Cafri Beers (much like Corona) and bottles of Soju. Once, I got back the singing had already commenced. The book of songs to choose was like a phone book of songs from all over the world. I sang Muse- Hysteria,
Green Day- Basket Case, 99 Red Balloons, and we all sang a chorus of the Cranberries- Zombie! We were in that room for over two hours and it was time well spent. The highlight of which was Glen's rendition of Electric Six- "Gay Bar" a hilarious song (please check out the link). We probably would have stayed longer had it not been for the fact that our voices were failing miserably, an affliction affecting me even on this Sunday.After the Nora Bong (Singing Room) we headed to a nearby convenience store where I bought a pitcher that came with glasses and we all sat outside and enjoyed conversation while watching the drunken businessmen pass by. One would stubble as if his legs were made of rubber. Three other ones were wrestling not 10 feet from us, fully dressed in suits. They accidentally dropped their beers and broke them only to continue wrestling in the trash bags that were stacked up along the street, a truly comedic sight. The best part was when this trio walked over to a moped one of them apparently owned. Each took his turn trying to drive it. One almost parked it INSIDE the convenience store.
They would throttle up and immediately realize their eyes couldn't keep up and would lock the brakes creating a jerky forward and stopping motion. So funny, all of us were crying or at least me. At last, one got on the moped and sped away swerving the entire way down the sidewalk. Their night had come to a close and ours was quickly approaching it. We finished the pitcher and walked home together chatting in pairs. I finished the night standing outside alone smoking one of my cigars. Koreans party on a whole 'nother level, yall.This PC Bang won't allow me to load pictures, I promise to post them soon. I have some of the Businessmen!
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